Forgetting Something?
by Reishii-Chan
Summary: When Orochimaru makes the perfect elixir that causes amnesia,he is in need of a test subject. Itachi becomes his experiment and he soon loses his memory. Sakura somehow gets thrown into it when she spots Itachi in the woods, not quite acting like himself.
1. Chapter 1

This is purely for the fun of it. Again it came to me at 2 o'clock in the morning, and I still have more ideas to come. This is to pass the time and get some stress off my shoulders. I hope you all enjoy! There is some major Itachi OOC in this!  
Disclaimer: Own not I the Naruto!

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Prologue: Memory Loss

Vile Code 9 Testing 19304 BB; known as amnesia, or memory loss. This was the recent experiment in which was currently being tested and used for any flaws or defects. An inch long tube filled with bubbling green liquid; a creation Orochimaru and Kabuto had been working on for nearly seven years before the infiltration of Konohagakure had been plotted and planned. It was a rather rare substance that he, Orochimaru, was currently aware of and thus he claimed to be the inventor.

The substance was meant for one purpose only; to drug the Village of Konoha's leader, Tsunade, and regain his title of Hokage, just like he always wanted. And if he were to become equally lucky, his long abandoned organization, Akatsuki, may come into play and he would command over them as well.

Vile Code 9 Testing 19304 BB was designed to rapture and infiltrate the brain's memory and erase it of all events; basically screwing up the system. It had its drawbacks, as any substance of this magnificence would. The only things that could not be erased within the brain were the essentials; breathing, walking, talking, reading, writing and remembering the events after the drug had been induced.

The victim could not manipulate chakra,—a big necessity—lacked all further abilities of fighting skills, slow human reflexes akin to a normal bi passing villager, and kekki genkai traits. It was the ultimate weapon, and further more in high secrecy.

Orochimaru would soon rule the world.

- - - - - - -

Fate had decided to lead Uchiha Itachi out into a walk, and it also had future plans for him as well. It was a normal venture through nature he would usually do after training or to get away from all the others, to clear his mind and relax. Nothing seemed off beat. The birds were twittering. The animals were scurrying and going about their ecological niche. The breeze was light but not very generous—giving the extreme heat during the early August.

He was wearing his usual attire; black coat, purple trousers, black mesh T-shirt, sandals, and additional scratched hiate-ate. Everything seemed to be going according to regular schedule. He'd awakened, eaten, trained, eaten, trained, and now he was fulfilling his next simple and regular task.

He sat perched upon a tree branch near a stream, watching the water cascading down, the current running forever into the ocean. The wind shifted, coming from the north instead of east, and he could faintly smell the disaster wafting down from that general direction. There was a slight scent that followed along with it, but he paid no heed to it.

He was generally close to the border line of Konohagakure, a place where he onced lived and served under its confinements. But that was years ago, and it had been long since he'd visited and tried to capture the kyuubi container with his partner Hoshigoki Kisame. People would remember, but they would also forget if Akatsuki kept their status under control for the time being. They had already captured the shukaku from Sunagakure's Kazekage, and that had gone without much of a big glitch, except for the fact that they had brought in recruits from their allied village.

They were plotting the next move upon the unsuspected Konoha, waiting within the shadows to send that little loud mouthed blond that held the key to their desire. It would only take three days to take the kyuubi's chakra from within him, but with the other team members deceased, it may take a little while longer with the only remaining participants.

On high alert, he awaited for the enemy to reveal itself, his blood red eyes scouring the area keenly. Itachi hadn't counted upon having visitors, but he also hadn't counted on being very pessimistic, either. The wind picked up slowly, and the scent of trouble entered his nostrils. With a fluid motion, the bridge on his right was suddenly occupied by two black cloaks, hiding his enemies profile from his view.

There were two of them, each with their chakra masked, but it was clear by the way they skillfully moved they were shinobi. He wasn't sure if he should intervene with the situation, but he didn't quite know yet if they posed a threat. So he waited until their either left or revealed themselves.

As if on cue, the cloaked figure on the left raised his hand and gripped at its hood, pulling it back to reveal silver hair, bi-speckled gray eyes, a sound hiate-ate, and a sadistic smirk. The second followed suit, more fluently, lightly tucking the hair behind the hood and gripping it with both hands. Slowly, almost as if in slow motion, those pale hands pulled down the hood to show black raven hair, golden cat eyes, a pale face, a malicious smile, and the face of an enemy.

Itachi stiffened slightly, knowing those two. It was Kabuto and Orochimari, former residences of Akatsuki, traitors. Orochimaru even went as far as wearing the ring on his finger, never taking it off, and not planning on taking it back, either. Kabuto had riddened himself of it long ago, leaving it behind as well as his rank. What would those two be doing so close to Konoha and Akatsuki?

Itachi didn't know the answer, but he remained concealed by the shadows of the trees. They appeared to be communicating quietly, while Orochimaru reached within his cloak and removed a single inch long vile filled with green liquid. He held it to the light, allowed the sun's raise to reflect of its surface and create a rainbow within the trees. He slowly moved his hand along toward Itachi's way, the rainbow moving along with the item, until it landed upon Itachi.

His hand band reflected the glare of the light's raise and sent it back, giving away his location. In a split second he disappeared and relocated, removing his Leaf hiate-ate behind as he went and leaving it where it sat. Kabuto murmured something to his master, and he in turn nodded vacantly. Kabuto leapt within the trees and searched the area, finding the discarded hiate-ate within the branch, returning with it in his hand.

Orochimaru grabbed the cloth, fondled it between his pale fingers, and sniffed it nonchalantly. He shook his head, and flung it over the bridge's edge, the hiate-ate landing within the water with a muted _plunk._ Itachi scowled, but he hadn't been caught by the likes of the snake charmer that supposedly stricken fear into everyone's hearts whenever his name was muttered within a crowd. Quietly, Itachi attempted to leave the area and report to his Leader about their location.

As he began to move, Orochimaru raised his hand toward where Itachi was crouching and shot a snake out of his cloak, fangs bared and ready to sink into flesh. It barely missed Itachi, having dodged it just in time to register what was happening. A little slow, he moved to his feet to dodge another attack, and he could feel his mind growing hazy. Dammit, what was wrong? The snake maneuvered itself around a branch and struck out again, missing his arm but taking a piece of his cloak as a souvenir.

Seemingly satisfied, it retreated to the cloak of it's master's hand, giving him the article of clothing before disappearing. Rather perplexedly, Orochimaru gripped the fabric and eyed it suspiciously, feeling the material before flipping it over and finding a piece of the red moon. Smiling, his head shot up and looked to where his snake had caught Itachi, calling in a very feminine voice.

" Now now, Itachi-san, please don't be a stranger, come on out and visit us!" He encouraged, earning a disgusted look from Itachi.

No way in hell he would go down there and face him when clearly there was something wrong with his bodily functions. His reactions were slower and it was harder to see now, everything cloudy and hazy, his limbs feeling like iron weights.

" Its no use trying to fight my poison," Orochimaru called out facetiously." It is airborn, and slows down the muscles and the thinking process of the enemy. Kind of handy, don't you think? I made it for enemies such as you."

Itachi was not inclined to answer, instead he took deep breaths and tried to clear his mind of the poison. So that was what he had smelled within the air, his poison, planning on drugging any enemies that stood in his way. What a tricky little bastard, but he wouldn't be pushed over so easily. He hadn't earned his reputation for nothing. Revealing himself to the enemy and trying to attack headlong was a no, for he had that medical ninja with him that could render his arms useless with a single stroke.

Stealth wasn't something he was capable of pursuing at this moment, not with his mind clouded over and his thought process scrambled. Trying a different approach, he circled the area, a little tipsy on his feet, but enough to get a good view of his adversary. It failed. Kabuto reigned in some invisible line and had wired the entire area, not even a skilled ninja who was oblivious to the holes in the trap could get out.

Itachi fell, catching himself, and cartwheeling back on his feet, the process a lot more strainus than it was supposed to be. Orochimaru advanced toward him, and on instinct Itachi grabbed at his holster and removed five shuriken, raising his hand in front of his face.

" Now, that won't work on me, silly Itachi," Orochimaru cooed, hands up in a simple gesture of resign.

Instead, Itachi flung the shuriken in five different directions, snapping the invisible wire and freeing himself of their confines. Clapping, Orochimaru smiled sadistically, beckoning Kabuto over with a nod of his head.

" Why, Kabuto, haven't you been looking for a test subject with our newest formula?" Orochimaru questioned lazily, knowing the answer already. Itachi stood on his feet, his guard up, but his senses and reflexes dulling. It had to bottom out sometime, didn't it? He could still feel himself getting weaker, and his body failing and beginning to shut down. How could he be so stupid as to overlook something like that?

Kabuto walked up to his master's side, receiving the vile from Orochimaru's hands and removing a needle from his pocket." Why was, Orochimaru-sama, indeed I am," moving forward toward Itachi, Kabuto's fingers started swirling with chakra, and more wire flooded from his fingertips and around the area.

Itachi, unable to do much about the situation, stood there helplessly, the wire encircling around his body and trapping him in place. He struggled to free himself, bit the wire, but it was futile. His body was not in shape and could not thwart his opponents moves. The wire was binding his legs together, trapping his arms to his sides, and tying his feet together as well.

" Now stay still, this won't hurt a bit," Kabuto assured coyly, approaching the rapidly infuriated Uchiha with the needle within his hand. Without hesitating, he injected the vile within the container of the needle and gave a small squeeze, the liquid squirting out from out of the tip." This is a project we've been working on for a while, we named it Vile Code 9 Testing 19304 BB, or you that's just a fancy name for it, what it stands for is amnesia. And you all know what amnesia is, only this is something no one has ever captured within liquid form without doing any brain damage physically." Kabuto supplied, getting closer each time.

" The chemicals we used for this substance are confidential, but since you won't be remembering anything for a long while, I guess its only right we tell you," he sighed solely at this, standing in front of Itachi now, needle ready." It is mixed with a few rare flowers that are only found within Otogakure, processed and created my Orochimaru-sama himself. It is from the flower _Ketsueki Doku_ or Blood Poison. The chemicals that mix within the photosynthesis process of the _Ketsueki Doku_ are very lethal, and can kill a person within twenty four hours if it is ingested within the blood stream. He took the root of this and mixed it with other chemicals and substances I'm not going to bother to explain, and created a paralysis poison.

" Of course, this was not the results we were looking for, so we bottled up the paralysis poison for further testing and experimented again, only with rattle snake poison. The venom is deadly, can kill someone easily without any treatment, slowly killing the organs and blood vessels within the body until it becomes obsolete. He combined the formula for rattle snake poison and _Ketsueki Doku_ to create a memory loss substance, which was exactly what we were looking for. After testing the further results for any defaults and flaws, we decided to test it upon an unsuspecting shinobi or villager, the Hokage herself if we were deemed lucky.

" But look who we found instead, the almighty Uchiha Itachi wandering about the woods for a stroll, and just happened to become indulged within our paralysis poison that we made into a spray that can travel for miles. So, with all that said, I think its time to test the results and experiment a little more..."

Kabuto smiled, wide and sinister, and reached for Itachi's right arm. Of course, upon contact Itachi flinched and tried to pull away, but the wire prevented from doing so, instead cutting into his arm and created a minor gash. Kabuto clicked his tongue and reached for it again, ignoring the fact that the string continued to shear through Itachi's flesh as he manuevered it out into the open, holding it out before him and plunging the needle within his visible blood vessel.

Itachi, known for enduring pain, hid his pained expression and bit his tongue, feeling the foreign liquid invest his system as the needle ran empty. For a moment, it was all fuzzy and unclear, and the world felt like it was spinning into oblivion. Their forms, warped and multicolored, shifted side to side and whited out, leaving him seeing the white screen for a moment before snapping back to reality. His heart pumped faster with the rush of adrenaline, a bad thing, spreading the liquid further within his stream until eventually it would reach his head.

Than, the world came back into one place and everything was clear and pristine, and he felt like he'd been drugged. Orochimaru, watching intently on the results of the poison, could see the confused look that portrayed on Itachi's face, his head turning slowly side to side and attempting not to rip his neck off with the massive pressure the wire was having against his pale neck. Then, every so slowly, he turned and faced Orochimaru, and let out a blood curdling scream.

The trees shook and the birds fluttered from their havens at the ungodly noise, and the world seemed to have spiraled down into turmoil. Kabuto's brow rose in amusement at the expression that Itachi was showing, and it was clear that the poison was christened successful.

" Come, Kabuto, let us leave, for he won't be posing a threat to us anymore," Orochimaru ordered serenely, taking the kunai that Kabuto held and slicing through the wire, unleashing the confused Uchiha." The poison will be active for a few days, maybe weeks if we are lucky, and we shall come and find him within that time and see how he copes with it in his stream. He will not remember, thus he will not come looking for us, and everything shall go as planned."

With that the snake charmer and his assistant left the bridge and headed to Otogakure, leaving the bewildered Uchiha behind. Nervously, Itachi started biting his painted fingernails, wincing at the cut along his arm. Dubiously, he twisted his arm up and looked at the long gash, and his body racked at the side.

" B-b-b-blood!?" he screamed, yanking his cloak off and covering it up, his eyes searching the area. It was all hazy, and everything wasn't where it should be, and he wondered why he couldn't see properly. Maybe he was blind? Maybe he had gotten a surgery and now he was experiencing the aftermath of it? Itachi didn't know, didn't even know where he was, let alone how he had gotten there in the first place.

Nervously, he began skulking out of the area and into the forest, his eyes flickering everywhere besides where he was walking. He looked at the river, yes, he knew what that was. He looked up at the sky, and he knew that as well. He looked down at the ground, and he decided that he knew the ground too, made up of soil and dirt and gravel and rocks. He failed to notice the trees that were approaching from within the forest, and when he was done idolizing a snail that was slowly crawling beside him, he smacked into the tree.

Bemused, he stood cautiously, looking at the tree in awe. Yes, he knew that too, but that wasn't what he wanted to know. Slowly, he began walking through the forest, realizing that something was terribly missing...something he didn't know. Shyly, his hand raised and touched his bare forehead, and he felt nothing. Wasn't there supposed to be something covering it? He didn't quite know.

Slowly, he began his search through the forest, and unbeknown to the terribly baffled Itachi he was walking precariously into enemy territory.

- - - - - - -

Sakura glided through the forest with ease, enjoying the rush of running and the wind against her face. It had been a while since she had escaped the confines of Konoha, being on hospital duty was wearing her out at the seams. She had been given permission to wander off base of from the border line, as long as she stay within the forest, she had free regin to do as she pleased. She planned on finding a small lake or a brook to stop and wash up and soak within it. She sighed, the thought was relaxing enough.

She missed seeing Naruto around, he was always on top A-ranked missions to prove to himself and to the entire village he was capable of being their future Hokage. He never gave up his dream, and she would do anything to prevent any chances of his dreams shattering into memories. Sasuke had been absent a little while as well, taking up high ranked missions just to prove to Naruto he was always one step in head of him. Of course, the testosterone was boiling to a high and the two soon entered their friendly rivalry once again, keeping in mind that Sakura was no longer a helpless litle girl.

Of course, fate had it bad for Sakura, and luck never was her friend in the first place. Just as she was about to take a right at the large oak tree when she felt a presence of company. Of course, she couldn't quite put a name to the chakra signature that was around her, but she could feel it was large and very sinister. Quietly, she eased herself behind the tree and out of enemy sight, inching her nose from behind it to get a good look at her adversary.

Her eyes widened when she saw Itachi playing with an agitated ground hog and prancing about wildly with a flower reeve in his hair, his cloak with the cloud insignia lay discarded off to the side. Gasping, and trying hard not to laugh, she disappeared from behind the tree, trying to find out if she was under some kind of genjutsu spell to distract her. But, alas, when she tried to dispel something that was not there, she had to conclude that what she saw was real. Sticking her nose out again, she saw him jumping up and down, clutching his little finger and whining, sticking it within his mouth when blood surfaced.

Ground hog must have bit him, Sakura thought, trying to hide the giggle that was approaching. This wasn't Itachi, this had to be some sort of trick, someone making fun of him. His face was contorted in pain, and he was hopping up and down with a finger in his mouth, and he was groaning in frustrated. No, this was not Itachi, a poser. But, when she reached for his chakra, it was him, but, he wasn't acting himself.

Slowly, tentatively, she stepped out from behind the tree, watching as he hadn't spotted her yet. He was bent over, doing something with the flowers when she came up from behind and tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

" Ack!" At the contact he flung himself on the opposite side and looked as though he were about to have a heart attack, his hands up to protect his face in a basic self defense move. At this, it put Sakura on the defensive, but when he did nothing to indicate his retaliation, she simply dropped her hands to her sides and stared at him much like he was staring at her, dumbfounded.

" I-Itachi?" Sakura asked softly, waiting for him to snap back to himself and lash out at her. But the impact never came, and nor would it, for he cocked his head to the side and muttered something under his breath." I'm sorry, what was that, Itachi?" she asked again, never letting her guard down and making sure her fist was chakra filled for any surprise attacks.

" I said, what did you call me?" he said, confused, and in a different tone she hadn't heard before. It showed emotion, showed his confusion, and most of all, it showed how human he was underneath all of that cold hard exterior. It was so unlike him, and yet, she couldn't work it within her mind to think that this was someone else. This was Itachi.

She swallowed audibly, trying to work around the situation and get him on his good side." I called you Itachi. Why do you ask?"

He stared at her for a moment, digesting her words, when he flung his hand out at her. Her first instinct was to raise her hands to her face and block whatever he chucked at her, whether it be kunai or shuriken. But when the hit never came, she lowered her arms and peeked through slitted eyes, and saw that he was holding out the finger where he had gotten bitten by the ground hog. Blood oozed out of the shallow cut and he refused to look at it directly.

" I got bit," he said in a childish tone, and Sakura blanched. She wouldn't have ever considered that Itachi would ever weep like a five year old, but the way he said it sounded like he was on the verge of tears. Tentatively, she began walking up to him, still not dropping her guard, but it was obvious he had done so long ago.

What happened to him? she thought warily, shaking her head at the thought. Something catastrophic must have happened and he damaged his brain somewhere along the road. That was one option. The other; he finally became so psychotic he had a mental relapse and temporarily lost his mind. Both were suitable suggestions, but she wasn't sure if they were accurate or not.

" Kiss it better."

She couldn't hold it anymore. There on the spot Sakura began laughing until she felt like she was about to die from the lack of oxygen. Here he was, the mass murderer himself, the killer of the Uchiha clan and the tormentor of her best friends, and here he sat, demanding her to kiss his finger! Snickering and snorting her way through gasps of air, she regained her composure steadily, all the while trying not to look at the expression on his face that no doubt would be one of frustration.

Her stomach hurt from the laughter, but she finally calmed herself down enough to look at him again, and there he was, a full grown man demanding her to kiss his boo-boo better.

Shaking her head to the side, she tried to look at him sternly." No, I will not kiss it better. You are a grown man, Itachi," she giggled, cursing when she failed to be the 'parent' of this situation.

Shrugging, he fondled with the reeve on his head and chucked it at her, landing at her feet." No matter," he said.

How could this have happened? Surely he bonked his head on something, hard. Not only was he resuming his little dance, but he was also singing incoherently. How had she stumbled upon this situation? How come fate hated her so much? Why haven't the bill collectors left her alone yet?

" What is your name?"

Her head snapped over to him, and she rubbed it sorely. Had he just asked her something, or was she imagining it? The curious look upon his face only answered her first question, the second being was it the question he'd originally asked her. Baffled, she waited until he would repeat his question, but he only stood there, his arms crossed and his face showing that of impatience.

Never had she seen so much emotion coming from the likes of him, but it was sure to be said that he had indeed been knocked out or had something wrong within his brain. His foot began tapping on the grassy ground as a sign of losing his patience, and he began growling under his breath.

For a minute, the stern and cold look he shot her way made her think he'd recovered her memory and she was done for. It was soon cleared over when he balled his hands into fists and bared his teeth." Did you not hear me?" he asked rhetorically—of course he was going to ask again." I said,"—she smirked when she had guessed correctly—" 'What is your name?' "

Shaking her head and clearing her mind, she attempted something of casualness in the prescence of her enemy." Figured you'd forget," she snickered." Haruno Sakura,"

He nodded his head, as if finding her response suitable. Lightly tapping his chin absentmindedly, he gave her another stern look, but it was not at all the frightening one she'd became accustomed too over the years." What is my name?" he asked, genuinely curious.

She blinked, but realized she'd only supplied him a first name. Clearing her throat, she stated," Uchiha Itachi," but not without having a shiver ripple its way down her spine. The murderer who killed the Uchiha clan, haunted his brother and claimed to take the life of her best friend.

She decided this had gone on long enough, and approached him, removing the now falling apart flower reeve from his head and grabbing his cloak that lay abandoned on the grassy floor, searching for his headband as she went along. No sign of it, ah well. She'd prefer it gone anyway, the scratch was like a sharp reminder that told her she was dealing with an enemy and further more was conversing with one.

Sighing, she took his hand, and began dragging him back to the village, where she would explain the rest to her shishou, and try her best not to get him killed when she entered the gates tugging a threat into her home.

She could only hope she would be able to reverse this situation and be rid of him for good. But, fate wasn't quite threw with her just yet.

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Feedback is most appreciated. If you spot any errors, please make them known so I may proceed to fix them. Review on your way out please.


	2. Chapter 2

Hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter, now, on to the second! This is so much fun!

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Chapter Two; Elevator Irony 

Sakura continued to lead the way to her home, repetitively she had to stop and pry Itachi's form off of a tree, him exclaiming to the world that he was born to be a tree hugger. After that she had thought, more like to be born a killer, and had snickered at the comparison. He would bend over, pick a flower, and compare it to her unnatural hair, shouting at the top of his lungs; " Your hair is pinker than this flower!!" and she would be forced to remove him from the flower bed.

He had also stopped to observe the neighborhood deer and point wildly at that. He stopped to look at a bird's nest and try and catch the little chicks that resided within it, but Sakura had to haul him away from that as well. Itachi even went as far as to follow a woodpecker into its little hole within the tree and watch it go by its ecological niche.

This little stunt had been going on since she began tugging him toward Konoha, and she was growing a bit irritated with his abnormal attitude. She'd prefer it now if he would snap back to reality and end her suffering, but he only managed to grow it ten-fold. She _almost_ got down on her knees and kissed the ground eagerly when she saw the gates of Konoha emerge from the depths of the forest, but it probably wouldn't have mattered, he was more likely to bow down and join her than slaughter her right then and there.

Now, getting past the guards would be tricky, especially when she's bringing home an S-class criminal to come join her for dinner. How would she cover him up when that was the only way to get into the village without being noticed publicly? A jutsu? No, the guards would see through that in a heartbeat. Maybe taking off his cloak and pinning his hair into another style may help. Though the first option was more plausible, the hair was not going to go over quite well.

Turning to face Itachi who was chasing a monarch butterfly, she reached for his hand and dragged him over, telling him to remove his cloak. He gave her a puzzled look but complied nonetheless, grabbing the bottom of the cloak and throwing it over his head. Now for the rest of his appearance, but, not all shinobi saw what exactly was _under_ the cloak unless they were about to become sushi. So, taking her kunai, she started ripping and tearing through his mesh shirt, making it seem less noticeable and make him look like a peasant or something. Had he the brains of his former self he would have torn her head off for that little stunt.

Sighing, she decided to drop the attempt at making him look like someone else and come forth with an important message for the Hokage. They knew her well enough not to stop her from advancing and to not get involved with issues that does not include themselves personally. So, with that comforting thought in mind, she began tugging him along to the gates, awaiting her personal entourage that would most likely be Naruto wondering where she had been and why hadn't she come for training.

Same old same old.

Her lips defied her and turned into a half smile at the thought. The guards turned wary when they approached the door, and their mouths were open for the usual greeting/interrogation. But all she heard was silence as they're eyes bulged from their sockets and landed upon the oblivious Uchiha, who was waving at them enthusiastically.

In the best authoritative voice Sakura could manage despite the rising laughter at their expressions, Sakura addressed them." Allow us to enter, I have urgent news for the Hokage personally that involves Uchiha Itachi," she demanded sternly, fighting back the urge to giggle. Man, she did not sound like herself at all right then.

The guards eyed her suspiciously, but no doubt about it that it was in fact Sakura, but their eyes traveled toward her unusual and highly energetic traveling companion, and they began contemplating their decision.

" I need to see the Hokage at once," she hollered angrily, fists raising." It concerns this man right here," she repeated, gesturing toward Itachi, who, at the sound of his name, began waving again. The guards remained still, conversing amongst each other whether or not to let them in. So, Sakura tried a different approach." Let us enter or I'll break down the gates myself,"

At that, they began turning the wheels and letting inside, and a vinidictive smile spread over her lips.

Itachi, fondling a piece of string that hung from the cloak, was about to speak his mind when again he was being tugged along by the girl with strange pink hair. It seemed natural enough, but he wondered maybe she'd gotten into a dying accident at the beauty parlor, and the term _strawberry blond_ had taken a on a whole new meaning. At this he had to start laughing.

Startled, she turned around and gave him a curious but slightly cautious eyebrow raise, and in fact she _did_ just hear Uchiha Itachi laughing at nothing in particular. Slightly turning to face him but not letting go of his wrist, she gave him a look that told him to explain his random outburst, but he merely tilted his head to the side, studying her hair, and then laughed again.

The laugh was natural, as every laugh should be, but somehow, she had a hard time piecing together how it sounded and what he sounded like when he was an emotionless killing machine. She thought he'd lost all sense of humor, and losing his memory would not change that in the slightest. Guess you learn something every day, Sakura thought mildly.

" What are you laughing at?" she asked, hopeful that her voice didn't portray her agitation, for it was clear that the source of the laughter had been centered around her.

Itachi muffled his laughter by covering his hand over his lips and turned away from her, shaking his head vigorously. Had he been his normal, slaughtering self, Sakura would've never done what she did than. Her hand found its way to his shoulder and the other, spinning him around while she pinned him with a stern look, deadly close to his handsome face, and he remained unperturbed by the contact and the proximity of their bodies, even more amused now that he'd gotten her riled up.

" I said," she gritted through her clenched teeth." What are you laughing at?"

" You," was his plain and simple answer behind his hand, and his eyes squinted as he chuckled more.

Masking some of her annoyance, she asked more levelly." What about me?"

Twitching from trying to contain his laughter toward her, he let the rest of it calm itself in the middle of his stomach as he tried to remain impassive to her bright pink hair. But, alas, he failed to do so." Your hair," he squeaked out, something that made her stomach churn. Had the mighty Uchiha Itachi just squeaked!?

Eyes ablaze, she asked him again." _What about my hair?_"

He snorted and snickered until he could take it no more. His hand formed one finger and it pointed directly at her head." Its pink."

Her angry expression faded with one of confusion. Surely she'd been thinking that he would saw how unruly or how poorly looked after it appeared compared to his outrageously gorgeous and flowing hair, but instead he decided to mock the color of it. Well, it was not like she hadn't heard it before, but it was surely a turn of events to have an S-class criminal making fun of it. No doubt about it that by the end of the day she'd go to the drugstore and pick up some natural hair dye.

It hadn't occurred to her that the guards had been standing there watching what they were doing, and were on the verge of passing out when they heard the infamous Uchiha Itachi_ laughing_ at her. Growling, she ignored any further snorts and snickers and chuckles while she dragged him along conspicuously toward the Hokage Tower, planning on getting Tsunade to give him a nice little tap on the head.

As she plowed through the crowd with Itachi behind her, the villager's all gasped and screamed like they had been coregraphing it from the start, hiding their children behind themselves or throwing them inside the nearest house/cafe. And, to her amazement, instead of pondering why they exactly were running away and hiding from his site, he decided to wave and give them a friendly smile, which, the results were quite disasterous.

Before he could draw any more attention to himself, she gripped his wrist tighter and began speed walking to the Tower, repeatedly thinking in her mind that as soon as she walked through those doors it was home base from there on. They reached it in no time at all, but that didn't stop the villager's from gossiping and screaming and running around in circles out of fear.

Scowling when he continued to smile and wave, she pulled him through the doors and turned to the receptionist, who was all smiles and what-not until her eyes came upon Itachi's face. Her tanned skin turned pale white and Sakura had to make it out there quickly before she started screaming for help.

" I'm going to see Tsunade, don't worry, you have nothing to panic over," Sakura assured hastily, dragging Itachi along without her further permission and up the small stairs to the elevator.

Once inside, she shoved him inside and pressed the last botton on the dial, and Itachi's face lit up in excitement." What is this?" He asked, awestruck when it began blinking.

" Its called a button, and this is the elevator; you press the buttons to get to the floor you want," Sakura explained rigidly, running a hand through her pink hair.

He began examining it, like it was a complicated set of text, and than asked equally astounded." Why did they skip the number thirteen?"

" Because, for superstitious reasons, thirteen is an unlucky number, so they don't have a thirteenth floor or a thirteenth room,"

" But that's highly unfair to the number, don't you think?" the way he asked it made it sound like it was a serious question, and it made her role her eyes to avoid smiling.

She didn't answer his question, and he soon forgot about it. Instead, when the floor flashed to twelve, he began chanting the word thirteen repeatedly, in hopes that the floor number would appear magically from thin air and imagination alone and there would be a thirteenth floor. But when his hopes were numbered, he sighed in defeat.

Then, his attention shifted elsewhere when the numbers began to stop blinking." Why has it stopped blinking?"

" It means there's someone else coming on with us," she replied, trying to contain her laughter. Boy was he ever amusing whenever he was curious and unsure.

" Oh,"

The elevator came to a slow halt, and the doors began to open. He stood there, astonished, and watched as the lone female passenger boarded the elevator and hit the number beside him. Obviously she hadn't taken a good look at Itachi, for she had yet to scream and shout and demand that the doors open for her to make a quick escape. Itachi moved to the side of the elevator to where the dial was stationed, and nonchalantly pressed a button on the dial.

Sakura leaned over slightly to see what he was doing exactly, for she kept hearing little beeps coming from the dial. Her mouth was agape when she saw him press yet another button, and another, and then drag his hands over the dials to make a pizza shaped white triangle. He smiled in satisfaction, and turned toward Sakura to display his art work.

" Look! I made a Christmas tree!" he squealed, and the lady next to him shot a wary glance his way.

" Itachi!" Sakura groaned, than her hands clapped over her mouth. The lady next to Itachi gave him a double-take, than opened her mouth to scream. Quickly, Sakura covered her mouth and drew her away from the laughing S-class criminal, and whispered in her ear." He is absolutely harmless, please do not scream and call the operator on the dial, everything will be fine," Sakura assured calmly, effectively quieting the lady.

" B-but! He's Akatsuki! Why is he on this elevator and why haven't you called for help from the Hokage!" The lady let out a shrill scream from behind Sakura's hand, panicking and swinging her purse about.

Sakura settled her down and held the purse at her side, afraid that she'd try and hit Itachi on the head and he'd somehow regain his memories." Believe it or not, he's lost his memory. But its me, Haruno Sakura, its all going to be fine ma'am."

At the sound of the Hokage's apprentices name, the lady relaxed and put most of her trust into her hands, and grew quiet and still.

Hesitantly, Sakura removed her hand away from the lady's mouth and waited for the scream to come, but thankfully it didn't. She seemed to have calmed down enough and moved over to the far corner, taking deep even breaths and not glancing in the well known enemies direction. The elevator rocked loudly, and it soon came to a halt. Sighing in content, Sakura glanced up at the meter above the dial, but it hadn't come close to the floor she was aiming too.

So, with the thought that someone else was boarding upon the elevator, she reached for Itachi and pulled him to the side to make way for the upcoming visitors. But the doors never opened, nor did the elevator continued to descend. She checked the dial, and the pizza formation was still in effect, but they were not blinking either. Brows furrowing, she moved over and checked the system, and found that one particular button was fading in and out. She checked the meter, and noted that it was the same as the button. Putting two and two together, she groaned in frustration as she came to a conclusion.

They had gotten stuck.

Itachi clapped his hands together and turned to Sakura, hopping up and down in one spot and almost putting the lady in the corner into cardiac arrest. Furious, Sakura moved Itachi away from the elevator dials." Look what you did!" she silently yelled at him, and she couldn't believe she was scolding a shinobi leagues away from herself." You've stopped the elevator!"

" Yay!" He exclaimed victoriously.

" No, not yay! This is bad! Now we're stuck!" Sakura chided, smacking her hand to her forehead loudly. Taking matters into her hands and ignoring the way Itachi seemed to pout about being the one to blame, she reached for the emergency phone and dialed nine-one-one, hearing the phone starting to ring. After the first half ring the phone picked up, and she almost thanked the inventors of the elevator for installing a phone.

" Hi, um, yeah, we're kind of stuck, can you give us some help buddy?"

" Sure, no problem, we'll be there in a jiffy, just sit back and try not to move about too much,"

" Certainly,"

Hanging up the phone, Sakura awaited for the mechanics to come and get her out of this hellish nightmare.

- - - - - - -

After they had escaped the elevator and Sakura pried Itachi away from the woman whom he was giving a new hairdo, she made her way to the Hokage's office tiredly. Not only was Itachi insisting upon finishing his job, but he was having a hard time taking his eyes off of the vending machine located behind the receptionist's desk. Sakura approached the door, and knocked three times, loudly. A grunt for an answer allowed her entrance and Sakura pulled Itachi inside, seeing no one but a desk and a stack of paper on top.

With a screech, the chair Tsunade was sitting in slid out from the desk. Tiredly, Tsunade bundled up the messily signed documents and held them within her hands, not looking at Sakura as she spoke." Ah, I've been meaning to talk to you today," Tsunade started morbidly agitated. She moved to the table and dropped the documents carelessly on top." Theres been a disturbance in the streets and I wanted to know if—"

Her words were cut short when she looked up at Sakura and than looked at Itachi, her face paling and adrenaline rushing through her system. But when she noticed that Itachi was standing behind Sakura with his two fingers behind her head, she had to blink three times before she could begin to comprehend that he was not in any way shape or form trying to slit her throat.

" S-S-Saku-ura...?" Tsunade stuttered, tilting her head to the side and angling her body for defense." W-what is Uchiha Itachi d-doing in m-m-my o-office...?" she questioned cautiously, stuttering and stammering more than Hinata on a regular basis. She grunted when her hip came in contact with the sharp end of the table as she maneuvered herself for battle.

" Uh..." Sakura started out lamely, adding a cheesy grin to try and lighten the tension." Well...to put it plainly, Itachi lost his memory somehow, and I needed to see if you can figure out whether or not it was a head injury or if he's just finally gone crazy,"

Tsunade digested her words and gulped audibly, hating the fact that she wasn't taking the any action toward an enemy who was standing there playing with her apprentices hair with an interested look upon his face. But, the way Sakura was acting toward their number one enemy, she believed her words, and noticed that he must have hit his head pretty hard to be fascinated by her hair and not be impassive.

Swallowing a lump that formed within her throat, Tsunade replied tentatively," W-well I'll have to check."

" Thank you shishou," Sakura said," I'm not so sure as of what to do with him. You see, I found him in the forest, and back than he had already lost his memory. I had to remind him what his name was and what mine was as well. But it does not surprise me that he wasn't able to recall mine either. He had no further memory of the past, but can remember what exactly happened on the elevator ride up here pretty well."

She shot an accusing look his way, and his hands raised in surrender." I said I wouldn't make any more Christmas trees!" Itachi assured, his voice cracking a bit with the way she scolded him like a mother. He crossed his well toned arms and pouted, turning away from the two women childishly.

Tsunade was at a loss of words." Um...Sakura..." she started unsurely," I'll check and see now,"

" Thank you, shishou,"

With that, Sakura encouraged Itachi to come and sit in the comfy green chair, and he obliged enthusiastically. Cracking her fingers, Tsunade positioned herself behind the Uchiha and placed her fingers tentatively to his temple, surging her chakra into his skull and probing for any injuries. Her brow creased as she searched and searched fruitlessly, and after a few moments she gave up and removed her fingers.

" Wow, that felt cool," Itachi remarked.

Tsunade responded with a monotonous." Hn,"

She turned to Sakura and shrugged." I can't find anything wrong, it all seems a-okay. As a-okay as any criminal's mind is,"

Sakura hummed her acknowlegement and turned to see that Itachi was demanding that she'd do it again. Sighing, she regarded her shishou pleadingly." What are we going to do with him?"

" I think it would be best to keep him with you," Tsunade started uncertainly, but when Sakura started to glower she quickly explained herself." I mean, we obviously can't keep him with Sasuke, or he'd claw his eyes out within a moments notice. And we cannot under any circumstances keep him with Naruto, for he may have a mental lapse and remember his duty and try to claim the kyuubi once again. And we can't keep him with Kakashi, either, for he still is holding a grudge against that tsukiyomi deal. You're the best solution, Sakura."

Sakura's breath hitched, and she turned toward Itachi, who was paying no attention to them what-so-ever. He was staring at the large grandfather clock, watching as the second hand continued to circle the larger hand on the roman numeral tablet. It was the look of pure interest and concentration. It was hard not to laugh at a sight so rare and phenomenal.

" Alright," Sakura sighed in assent." I'll take him."

" I knew you would," Tsunade said.

Sakura gave her a reproving look to her shishou, one that read in plain black," You didnt know what I was going to say either," against white papering. In turn, Tsunade gave a little impish and guilty smile before shooing Itachi away from the clock, who'd attempted at opening the glass casing and snaring the golden symbol that repeatedly swung back and forth.

" Now, I want you to make sure neither Sasuke nor Naruto find out about him being here. There's already been a big commotion around the city when you dragged him in here, and I've already settled and taken care of that predicimant. However, I want you to keep an eye on him 24/7 and make sure he doesn't do anything to disturb or harm the villagers and buildings. I want him to stay inconspicuous throughout the entire village, including keeping him from Jounin like Hatake Kakashi and Gai, got it?"

" Hai, shishou,"

" Good. And another thing. I do not want you telling him what he really is, that may trigger something in his memory long enough to have the entire village slaughtered and put you in danger as well. So, from now on, keep his identity a secret from him and do not let anyone, I repeat, anyone ruin this. Is that clear?"

" Hai, shishou,"

Sakura looked over to Itachi and watched as he stood and went to Tsunade's side, making a face behind her head and bringing up bunny ears. It was hard to keep a straight and composed face when he was mocking the Hokage without any concern or any respect. Confused by her apprentice's obvious lack of control, she knew Itachi was standing behind her, felt it her obligation never to let her guard slip, especially when there was an enemy in the room.

But what could he be doing that was causing Sakura to act so out of character? Testing the theory, she turned around to see that Itachi stood impassive behind her, his eyes looking at Sakura, and it was than that Tsunade noticed that the elder Uchiha had deactivated his kekki genkai in their presence, and his onyx eyes portrayed amusement.

Confused, Tsunade turned to look at Sakura, who was again fighting back laughter toward her shishou's person. Agitated, Tsunade turned back to Itachi, who again was standing the same way as he had been those couple of seconds ago. Shaking her head, she dismissed herself to her paperwork and shooed them from the room, her mind running a mile a minute with the reports that needed to be completed and sent and the missions that needed to be carried out.

" Come on, lets go before we give her a migraine," Sakura said, and her voice cracked and gave away her hidden laughter.

Itachi agreed and walked outside with Sakura and down the steps. Her mind started to think as to when she started being so comfortable around Itachi, her enemy, who currently was suffering from amnesia. Maybe it was because he was a lot more open and more entertaining and less threatening? Or maybe it was the fact that she hadn't sensed any chakra immerse from his body? She didn't know, but what she did know was when Itachi started making a beeline to the elevator, she tugged him along toward the safe and none breakable stairs.

" Why did that old lady look like I was about to murder her?"

The question caught Sakura off guard, and especially the fact that he addressed her as 'old lady', something only Naruto ever dared to do. She caught her footing and faced him exasperatingly, wondering if she, for a moment, had heard wrong. But there was obvious confusion upon his features and to her dismay she had heard correct. Hanging on to the red railing, she sucked in a breath of air.

" Well, you see, its because of who you are," Sakura explained tentatively. She sighed when he gave her an expression that would only resemble a child's as he's first learning of the bird's and the bee's.

" Well, who am I? Uchiha Itachi, correct?" he asked, thinking nothing of it other than the fact that he was by what his name stands for. Sakura tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and laughed nervously.

" Yes, you are Uchiha Itachi, no mistake in that,"

" Than what seems to be the problem with who I am? She looked as though she knew who I was."

" Y-yes, Itachi, that's the problem,"

" A problem with who I am?"

Sakura was at a loss as of what to do, and she settled for biting her lip nervously and trying to contain the pent up emotions that wanted to flood her system and tell him who he really was exactly. She couldn't tell him, her shishou had already dictacted what that may lead too, but she didn't want him to be confused and go on a rampage.

" Sakura? Is something the matter?" Itachi asked warily, and she felt a flutter of some kind of emotion race through her veins when his hand lightly touched her forearm." Is it because I was asking too much?"

A light hue of pink spread across her cheeks and she fought back the laughter that was bubbling inside her. Sakura was always known to laugh hysterically whenever she was emotionally nervous. She coughed a bit into her fist and gave him the best composed look she could temporarily muster.

" Some of it, but I'm not feeling to well anyway," she lied. He seemed to believe her, dropped his arm by his side." Come on, we're taking you to. . .my house," Sakura said reluctantly, and she could only imagine the look upon Naruto's face when he would come barging into her house early the next morning and see the almighty and dangerous Uchiha Itachi sleeping on her black couch. Oh, the irony.

" Good, because I am hungry," Itachi informed, patting his well muscled chest. But Sakura tried to avoid steering her gaze in that general direction, or in any direction other than his perfectly defined and handsome face.

Already she could hear her brain sizzling as she worked wonders with her betraying imagination. Taking a hold of his wrist, and careful to avoid taking his hand, she began guiding him down the stairs and out of the main lobby, casting a henge jutsu to transform him into a suitably looking villager.

" Um, Sakura. . ." Itachi asked, looking himself over and the new appearance." Two questions. One; how did I get looking like this. And two; how did you do that?"

Those were the questions she'd hoped for him to ignore. But, sadly, he had to go and ask anyway." I'll. . .explain when we get to my apartment," she assured hastily, jogging through the crowd with a disguised S-class criminal walking beside her. She could only pray to whatever lord there was that she would _not_ run into any of her friends and or former sensei's. But, of course, she wasn't about to be let off the hook so easily.

* * *

Feedback is most appreciated. If you spot any errors, please make them known so I may proceed to fix them. Review on your way out please.


	3. Chapter 3

This is such a blast! This chapter is going to be a bit more serious, just to clear some stuff up for Itachi

* * *

Chapter Three: Do Not Wake A Reluctant Sleeper

As soon as Sakura managed to haul Itachi to her apartment, she unlocked the door with her spare key underneath the welcome mat and shoved him inside. He let out a yelp of surprise when he hit the carpeted living room floor but remained still, waiting for her to make another move toward his person. But she merely shut the door behind her, kicked off her ninja sandals, and hung up her hospital jacket.

Grumbling, Itachi pushed himself off of the floor easily and scanned the new area in which he resided in, and found it was quite homey compared to the always green woods he had observed. The walls were a light faded baby blue and the carpet a deep mahogany. Over in the corner settled one black television box about the length of his arm span and a coffee table that sat before the large black love seat in the middle of the living room.

The walls were scattered and crammed with various pictures of her and other friends, all in expensive looking picture frames nailed to the wall. There was one in the far corner that caught his attention immediately. It was her and a blond haired teen who had whiskers upon his cheeks, they were in their bathing suits with ice cream dripping down their mouths, a goofy grin on the blond and a smirk on Sakura's face.

There was another that caught his attention as well, and it hung over top the television. There was a gray haired man with a navy mask over his mouth within the picture with Sakura on his back, the same blond at his side who looked like he was trying to take the man's mask off, and a dark haired teen with a cockatoo hairdo who was on the other side, hands jammed within his white shorts pockets and was clearly not paying attention to the three. He looked like himself, Itachi, in a way, but he didn't give it much thought.

Another picture was resting on the wall that lead to the kitchen, a picture of a blond haired blue eyes girl, brown haired brown eyed girl, dark ebony and lavender eyed girl, sandy colored hair and green eyed and black haired red eyed woman all in bathing suits upon a sandy beach, beach balls within their arms and tennis rackets at the side. The sun was hovering over the west coast, and he could see in a bit of a blurred image a thumb in the upper right hand corner.

Then another of Sakura dressed in a gray yukata with a blue obi tied around her middle, water balloons filling out her chest where he could see the white bindings behind it. Her hair was in long pigtails at the back of her neck, and he could distinctively see a blue sticker upon her forehead and the curve of her legs inside the short pants and the black high heeled shoes.

Then another of the blond, who held a long gray wig in his arm while he was dressed in a gray and red haori with fish netting underneath, a scroll made of an overly large paper towel roll tied to his back. Red face painting adorned his cheeks and trailed down from his eyes to his cheeks, a silver headband tied to his forehead with the kanji _toad_ written upon it. He seemed to be laughing with the dressed up Sakura, and it was then that Itachi could see a green book within his left hand that red _Icha Icha Paradisu _in katakana.

Another was of the black haired teen again, but Itachi could not comprehend as to why he felt a bit of resentment form within the pit of his stomach while seeing him. His face was entirely pale white in make-up with purple eyeliner trailing across his eyes and forming a curve downward. His hair was brushed back and extensions were used to allow his hair to trail below his shoulder. He was dressed in a black and grey suit, and wore white gloves. He was hunched over and clearly not enjoying his costume like his friends, his eyes fixated upon the blond chivalrously.

" Itachi!" Sakura yelled, snapping him out of his thoughts. His head turned quickly in her direction, and a snap could be heard, brought by a stinging pain. Sakura scowled to herself. Maybe shouting his name repetitively wasn't the best idea when you wanted to keep him a secret.

Finally, he nodded." Yes, Sakura?"

" What are you doing?" she asked precariously, tilting her head to the side.

Itachi shrugged indifferently." Just looking at these photos you have here," he turned and looked at the picture of the black haired teen." Who is this person?"

Sakura walked over and looked to where Itachi was pointing, it was the picture of the time where Sakura and Naruto had tackled Kakashi into taking them out to ramen at Ichiraku. How many memories had they've made over the years?

" Oh, that's Sasuke," she answered firmly, trying not to allow any hint of recognition flow through her words.

" Hmm. . .he sort of looks like me. Any idea as to why?"

Sakura's heart skipped a beat for a split second before she was able to regain her composure." I'm not sure, really," she maneuvered herself so that her side wasn't exposed to him." Maybe its just a coincidence,"

" He looks familiar," he said with sure confirmation." Like a brother or a cousin or something. . ."

" Ah," Sakura said dubiously, struggling for an answer." Maybe cousins, but brothers? Pfft," she dismissed as nonchalantly as she could. He seemed to believe her, until he asked another question.

" Do you know him?"

Her head was pounding with adrenaline at the thought of him possibly regaining his memories just from looking at his younger brother's picture." Yes," she said honestly.

" How so?"

" He used to be on my team with my friend Naruto, over here," she pointed to the blond in the photo." Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, Hatake Kakashi and myself, Haruno Sakura." He nodded in assent as she addressed them all with familiarity, but she seemed to have some trouble with saying Sasuke's name.

" I see, so, what team did you belong to?" He asked casually.

" What do you mean?" she asked carefully.

" I mean, was it like a team for a sport or something?" The way he asked it was unbelievable. He really didnt' remember anything from the shinobi life that he belonged too, or what it was. She bet he couldn't even control his chakra without his memory to support it.

She bit her lip." Um. . .it was a ninja team. . ."

" Ninja?" His brows furrowed in confusion, and she made a mental note to get him to show more emotion while she had the chance.

" Yeah, ninjas, you know, shinobi. . .?" she supplied, trying to get something to click within his mind.

He contemplated the thought of what ninjas were and what they would possibly do, but he came up blank." No, I don't know what ninjas are," he assured, sadly smiling.

Her heart raced at how handsome he actually looked when smiling, whether it be with sorrow or with happiness. He looked ten years younger and an actual human being when he smiled, and she had to rush and gather her thoughts before something slipped from her mouth.

" Oh, well, that isn't important right now. We belonged to a team of three, including Sasuke and Naruto and Kakashi—senpai as our leader. We went on a lot of missions together, and have been together since our early teens. But things have changed and we have different goals to complete, some harder than others, and some more realistic than the real thing. . ." She trailed off, unsure as to how much information she should provide.

"Hmmm. . .what sort of goals did you have?" he inquired, looking completely at ease and curious and ready to digest anything she would say.

She fondled a bit with her words and choose the correct ones." Well, Naruto wants to be Hokage of this village; which is the number one ninja in short. Kakashi—sempai, well, I'm not sure what his future plans actually are, besides reading all of the _Icha Icha Paradise _issues that Jiraiya-sama writes. And I want to surpass my mentor, Tsunade—shishou, and be the best medical ninja there is." She answered with confidence toward herself and Naruto, and she could only hope he wouldn't question Sasuke's motives.

He registered her words until he figured that he was missing one other person in particular.

With forced politeness, he questioned the other ninja, Sasuke." What about that Sasuke guy? What are his goals?"

Sakura swallowed a lump that formed in her throat, fate must be having a party right about now.

" Well, you see, his goals are mainly centered on one major thing. . .And another thing would be to get extremely powerful to get to that major thing. . ." Sakura supplied, purposely avoiding that special little subject that included the man standing in front of her.

Itachi tilted his head to the side innocently, his bright red eyes glowing with curiosity." What is that 'major thing'?"

Sakura groaned involuntarily.

" What?" Itachi questioned." What is the matter?"

" The question is the matter," Sakura grumbled.

Itachi shool his head side to side." Another question that you cannot answer I presume?" she wanted to say that she could answer it and get it over with, but it wasn't what she was meant to do at the moment.

" No, I can't answer it, I'm sorry,"

" Its alright, I think I can understand. I guess some things I'm not really meant to know,"

" Its not that, its just you already know them, you just can't remember them,"

" So I've somehow lost my memory and I do not know about it?" he asked uncomfortably.

" Yes,"

" Than how come you can't tell me what I do not remember?"

Sakura gulped audibly." I just can't, its not something I am required to do,"

" Is it that bad?" he asked, his voice a bit strained from the tension.

" Yes, it is bad. And it is bad for the village,"

" Its because I'm a threat, isn't it?"

" Unfortunately, yes, it is, _you_ are,"

Itachi sighed, long and hard and full of frustration and confusing. Sakura sighed too, only it was out of contentedness that he momentarily stopped interrogating her. Her eyes traveled to the window sil to see the sun was setting over the horizon. How did the day go by so quickly anyway? She looked at the microwave and saw that the clock read 9;30 pm, and she would have to be at the hospital the next morning by six.

Sighing, she walked over to Itachi and looked him in the eyes. The only shred of confidence that came from looking him square in the eye was the fact that he wasn't aware of his bloodline and that he hadn't a clue as to how it worked or what it was. From up close, they were clearly amazing, a deadly beauty. They were crimson red that shined with an inner passion that was unknown to him, the three tomoe markings circling around his feminine eyes.

He could also see the perfect line of his masculine jaw that was slightly curved at the end. It suit him perfectly, but she snapped from her staring when she notice that he was staring right back at her. Blushing, she slid past him and hid her face.

" It's late," she whispered, but she didn't particularly care whether or not he'd heard." I'm going to bed, what about you?"

He shrugged, unsure." I'm not sure. Since it is clear that I cannot leave the vicinity of your home, I guess I'll have to sleep as well,"

She nodded and motioned for him to join her in the living room. When had they migrated to the kitchen, anyway? Swatting away the thought, she went to the closet and dug out some blankets and some pillows and threw them carelessly onto the couch." Here's some blankets and stuff, night,"

It felt weird saying goodnight to an S-class criminal who was currently bunking in your home and sleeping on your couch. But it sent a flutter of emotions through her stomach that made her cringe outwardly. When had she been so. . .comfortable with Itachi anyway? He was her enemy that she was babysitting until his memory came back or until he eventually got lost and he wouldn't be her problem anymore. What was wrong with her?

She dismissed it with being too many questions in which she was not ready to answer and headed for her bedroom, closing the door and stripping down into her undergarments. Right now she didn't pay much attention to the fact she was only clad in her bra and underwear while Itachi slept just down on the hall on the couch. She could punch him into the next century anyway, so it didn't necessarily matter.

Closing her eyes and clearing her mind, she drifted off to sleep. . .A place where there wasn't an S-class criminal sleeping in her apartment. . .

- - - - - - -

Itachi sat upon the couch with his legs crossed and his hands over his knees, meditating. He hadn't known at first as to what he was doing, but suddenly his body positioned itself, and he suddenly was aware of how much time had passed since then. He guessed the thought of sleep made his body want to meditate instead, as if he never slept at all. This thought slightly unnerved him a bit.

He began questioning just exactly who he was.

Who was he anyway? Why was he here? And more importantly, why did Sakura say that he was a threat and that he shouldn't regain his memories? Maybe he really was a threat to her home, and thus that was why he was being kept in cognito, so no one would recognize and attack him. But if he was the bad guy, why go out of their way to protect him instead of banishing or killing him now?

He didn't know, nor did he really wanted to answer that last question. But if he was that great of threat, was _he_ one of those ninjas? He couldn't think of himself as one, the idea didn't fit. Though, now that he thought about it, the way that he carried himself and the way he watched Sakura walk, it did seem as though he too was agile and lethal. He didn't want to think about where he had gotten his large bisceps or where the abs magically appeared from, but this all but concluded his questioning.

So, he was one of these ninjas, if only he could figure out what exactly they did. Did they wear masks and hop from roof to roof in the quiet of the night to fulfill their mission? The idea seemed a bit farfetched, but he couldn't think of any other reasonable comparisons. And he surely couldn't ask Sakura again, she simply would not answer him, in avoidance to the truth. If he was told the truth, would it mean that his memories may return, and that he could destroy Sakura and the village?

He didn't want too, he didn't want to hurt Sakura for some unexplained reason. She seemed like a level girl with a decent life and a bundle of good friends and a loving family. So, he tried not to think about his memories, instead let them settle in the back of his mind. Than another thought came to mind, one that he couldn't quite ignore that easily.

Who was this Sasuke person anyway? He had suggested a brother or a cousin figure, since they did look similar, the height and the hair was the only thing he could dictate in appearance. What was he like? Was he like the old Itachi, or more so like Sakura? From the round of facial expressions he showed in the pictures, it seemed like he was a stoic teenager looking for that hidden goal in his life.

What was that goal, anyway? A secret mission he was assigned too? Or did something tragic happen? He seemed to be not all there from the picture's he'd seen, off in some far off land where he was completing his goal. Itachi decided that there were too many questions, and they needed to be answered. Slowly, he moved off the couch and down the hall, amazed at how silent he was being even though he weighed quite a lot, considering all the muscle he was compact with.

He saw a white door that was closed adjacent the bathroom, and he figured it was Sakura's room. Quietly, he gripped the handle and turned it, opening the door and poking his nose through the crack. He saw Sakura's form underneath the blankets and the steady rise and fall of her chest. She was completely buried beneath the covers, only a speck of her pink hair was visible. Was she really that deep in her slumber that she didn't sense him coming?

Itachi opened the door more with caution to any approaching creaks that may occur, but the door opened silently. Tiptoeing his way through, he dodged the massive heaps of clothing that was bundled in separate piles and made his way toward the bed, where he could see an arm sticking out from the covers as well. Crouching next to the bed, he whispered her name, careful to stay a reasonable distance away from her form lest she wake and lash out at him.

He whispered her name again, but there was no response; if you count a snort a response. Gently, he nudged her exposed arm and repeated her name once again. Her arm twitched and his hands instinctively rose to the defense, but he lowered them it the arm merely wrapped itself around the pillow and stilled. Cautiously, he poked her arm again, ready for any sudden retaliation, but it merely stayed where it was unhindered.

" Sakura," Itachi hissed, nudging her arm again a little more forcefully." wake up," the girl in question merely rolled onto her stomach with her face planted within the pillow, breathing normally. It was then that Itachi could see the outline of her gray bra along her shoulder line, and he looked away from it quickly and concentrated on her face.

" Sakura," he tried again, placing his hand on her cold shoulder, and giving it a slight nudge.

" Five more minutes, mom," Sakura grumbled, swatting his hand away from her shoulder. Itachi winced and grabbed his hand, noticing that there were fingerprints where she swatted his hand.

" Sakura, I need to ask you something," Itachi said, snaking his arm to nudge her again. " Wake up,"

" No,"

He growled and stood, ignoring the way his legs tingled when he walked over to the other side of the bed and tore off some of the covers to reveal her face. It wasnt quite the look of pure content; her face being scrunched up in agitation and her mouth forming a frown. It was kind of cute from this position, but he didn't think a fat lip on his face would prove much good. He placed his hand upon her shoulder and tried nudging her again, gently shaking her while repeating her name.

" I don't wanna wake up," groaned Sakura tiredly, shooing his hand away." Its too early to be alive!"

He thought her sarcasm was kind of funny at this time of night, but he proceeded in waking her. Trying a different tactic, he gripped the covers that hung to her body and peeled them off slowly, so as not to startle and put her in an uproar. He removed them until they were down to her naval, ignoring her bare stomach and focusing on waking her up. She shivered and unconsciously reached for the warmth that surrounded the lower part of her body, but he grabbed her wrist and held it there.

" If you don't let go of my hand, I'll crush it with chakra," she threatened tiredly, yawning, but he doubted her ability to do it. What _was_ chakra anyway?" Do not tempt me, I _will_ do it and it _will_ hurt," her voice dripped acid and no room for second guessing.

Reluctantly, he released the grip on her arm and gently lowered his own to his side. Growling, she curled up in a little ball and clutched the covers, dragging them up to her shoulder. Sighing, she cracked an eye open and saw him standing there looking at her while she slept. It was enough reason to punch his lights out, but he hadn't touched or groped anything while she had been momentarily exposed. So she opted that he wanted something other than to get inside her pants. Besides, she had a bit of trouble staying asleep with him removing her source of warmth every time.

Making sure the covers stayed glued to her body, she sat up on the bed and rested against the headboard, giving him a harsh look." What do you want?" she asked, sighing.

He hadn't known whether or not she was sleep talking or if she really was conscious, but he wasn't about to let the opportunity slide." I want to know what Sasuke's goal is," he hoped that she really was unconscious and sleep talking, for she may be liable to tell him anything without thinking about the consequences.

Sighing, she ran a hand threw her tangled hair." I told you, I can't really tell you," she mumbled, yawning.

" I know, but I need to know, its driving me crazy," he pleaded, lowering himself so that he was resting on one knee, his hand on the bedside while he looked at her threw piercing red eyes.

_Wait. . .Red?_ Sakura questioned mentally. If he hadn't any chakra, how was it that his Sharingan could stay activated? Like she had thought previously, he must have chakra, but it was sealed away, and maybe he had his Sharingan activated at the time when he had lost his memory, thus his chakra was running in that cycle over again until it was all used up. If this theory was true, than he should be back to his onyx eyes in no time.

" Next," she said, exasperated. He gave her a curious look." Next question, I'm not answering that one," she stated.

" Oh," he thought of others that was plaguing his mind, but that specific one seemed to be screaming at him." Is this goal that Sasuke is after part of some sort of ninja mission?" he asked, eager to know the truth. He had other questions, but this one was like a red flag among a thousand other white ones.

Sakura contemplated how much she would tell him if she felt up to it, but she seemed as though the question was harmless enough." No, it is not a mission to which he was specifically assigned too. Its more of a vendetta for him, and he's sworn to accomplish it any other way. Of course, it isn't like we haven't helped him accomplish it before. . ." She trailed off, feeling a bit stupid for letting that slip.

" You've helped him once to try and reach his goal?" Itachi inquired, tilting his head and fixing his position so that he could get more comfortable. She frowned, obviously he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

" Yes, more than once, actually, but they were complete failures. His goal is kind of hard to. . .accomplish. . .and destroy," she said tentatively, keeping the loathing and seething out from her words, trying to remain impassive with the answer.

" So he is a shinobi, then?"

" Yes,"

" A powerful one?"

" Enough to almost rival the Legendary Sannin,"

Dubiously, Itachi shifted his weight to the side, pondering who these Legendary Sannin where. His mouth opened, but he hadn't a chance to ask before she answered the question for him." The Legendary Sannin are the three most powerful ninja's that have sprouted from Konoha, one of them is my mentor, Tsunade—shishou, and another of them is Naruto's mentor, Jiraiya—sama," she supplied, keeping her eyes open with sheer will power.

Itachi nodded his head, so those were the names of the three. . .wait, she said three, but she only named two of them." You only named two, Sakura, what is the third's name?"

Sakura's heart skipped a beat, she hadn't known, but the way he said her name so profoundly and comfortably made her insides flutter. Clawing those stupid little butterflies out of her disobeying stomach, she was able to form words again." Yes, I named two," she said lamely." The third's name is Orochimaru,"

" I see, who is his disciple?"

She was afraid of this question, and even more afraid to answer it. She didn't him remembering anything about his younger brother siding with the enemy against the village and against the Akatsuki, it may jog something in that locked up memory of his. But, alas, the look he was giving her wasn't quite helping her situation, so she answered warily.

" He _was_ Sasuke's mentor, but he came back on his own will once Orochimaru was killed; saying he had nothing else to teach him and that he was no longer needed within his life," she was proud that she was able to keep her cool around this sensitive subject. But she knew this wasn't the end of the questions.

Itachi huffed, bemused." I didn't actually think you would answer me this time, it seemed like a personal subject that I would not be required to know."

" Yeah, well, I guess I'm too tired to comprehend what I'm actually telling you," she seethed, making the message loud and clear. He smiled, and in the pale moonlight that was streaming through her curtained window, he looked like an angel coming to give her a little visit in the middle of the night.

" Thank you, Sakura, for answering at least three of my questions. I will try and pick my questions carefully next time, so you may actually be able to answer them for me," he said gently. She decided that she liked the emotion side of Itachi, though she only encountered him at least a dozen times, and each time he rarely spoke a word to either her or Sasuke. But he seemed to have a compassionate side somewhere beyond that hard exterior he wore as a mask every day of his life.

" You're welcome, but do you know what would make me happy?" she asked, pointing toward the door." I would be happy if you would leave the room so I can get some sleep before I have to get up in the morning and assist at the hospital," she turned toward the clock, and it read 3;30." Now, I need to be at the hospital at six this morning, and I only have two hours of sleep left. Leave."

He stood and walked toward the door quietly, 3/4 of the way out before he poked his head in and gave her a grin." Good night, Sakura," he said quietly, shutting the door behind him and walking to the living room.

Her head spinning, she collapsed upon the futon and rolled over, mumbling to herself." Goodnight, Itachi. . ."

* * *

Feedback is most appreciated. If you spot any errors, please make them known so I may proceed to fix them. Review on your way out please.


	4. Chapter 4

Hey everyone, I'm back! I'm writing this a little more seriously to clarify some things, so, enjoy! There is still OOCness to be enjoyed!

* * *

Chapter Four; On Fruitless Occassions

It was the perfect morning.

The sun was streaming milky warm rays into her curtained windows. The birds were chirping in a nearby branch to greet the new morning. The covers were pulled up to her nose as she curled comfortably within her little cocoon. It was beautiful, not a sound within the house, all was quiet. . .

Than her alarm rang 5:00 am.

Groaning, Sakura slammed her fist onto the machine, a little too hard, and ended up smashing it into bits. The machine fell to the floor with a thud and began malfunctioning, the ringer on the alarm buzzing and dying endlessly. Grumbling, she reached over and unplugged it from the wall, enjoying the silence as it quietly died on the carpeted floor. She grabbed the covers and pulled it over her head, hiding the light and hoping she'd be able to call in sick.

A knock suddenly lurched her form from under the covers and her head swung to the window, where a figure rested on her window sill. How come he couldn't use the door like other human beings? Sighing, she swung her legs off the futon and onto the floor, heading to her dresser drawer and throwing on a white overly large T-shirt over her almost nude self. She didn't care whether or not he saw, he'd seen her in worse shape before, why cover up now?

Drawing the curtains and opening the window, she let out a huge yawn," Morning, Kakashi—senpai," she greeted.

" Good morning to you too, Sakura," Kakashi waved, his eye crinkled happily. She'd come to know whether or not the crinkle was fake or genuine, and she hadn't seen him in weeks due to overloaded hospital shifts, so she knew he was just as happy to see her as she was him. In his hand he held a basket of fruit and vegetables; the usual." I needed to see if my star pupil had her veggies and fruits this morning," he chuckled, handing her the basket.

She took it halfheartedly and set it on top of the light stand, turning back to him." So, what brings you here? And why can't you ever just go threw the damn door like any other human being?" she sneered playfully, already used to his morning tactics and sticking to windows.

He simply shrugged, unperturbed." Just force of habit I presume," his lone eye drifted around her room for a second before he looked back at her." So, have any visitors lately?"

He had turned from being playful and sarcastic to curious and somewhat serious. She hadn't a clue as to what he was referring too, so she simply raised her eyebrow and answered, bewildered." No, why?"

His eye remained fixated on her, testing," Oh, I don't know. I was just thinking maybe Tsunade—sama had assigned any house guests for a time being," he said nonchalantly, placating, trying to drop a hint her way, but she couldn't quite pick it up.

House guest? What did that mean. . ._Uh-oh. . ._

Sakura gulped audibly, suddenly remembering the S-class criminal bunking in her home. He had to know, or he wouldn't be wracking her brain and reminding her that people can clearly sense his presence across the street. She was supposed to be hiding him and keeping him away from everyone! Not flaunting him about in front of the entire village to see, and cause everyone to be in an uproar and a sea of panic!

She wasn't really sure what to say to this. . .but she knew she had to say something, or it would make her look very suspicious and definitely the one to blame. Trying to be as casual as she could with her outer appearance, she asked in the most controlled voice she could muster," Have you seen Tsunade—shishou lately, and gotten the message from her?"

She knew that he knew that she knew she was only trying to distract it from the main subject, but even that made her head spin in confusion. Slowly, albeit not hesitantly, he shrugged and stared her in the eyes." No, I have not seen Tsunade—sama this morning, or last night, I just sort of felt. . .and saw something. . .or someone. . ."

" Oh God," she groaned in agony. He knew! He knew! And he was slowly and tortuously putting the blame upon her shoulders with deadly and precise hints that he knew that Itachi was in her living room as they conversed! It was not her morning, screw the nice day and the happy chirping, this was a nightmare.

Or maybe she was blowing everything out of porportion. Maybe he had already visited the Godaime and wanted to test her ability to handle an on—the—spot crisis. Well, she definitely failed. So, throwing caution to the wind, she let out a breathy sigh and stared back at him, calm and composed." So you know of my little house guest, don't you?"

He nodded in assent.

" And you know he is a major threat to Konoha, correct?"

He nodded again.

" And you haven't visited Tsunade—shishou this morning, you found this out for yourself. Now you're going to waltz into my house and exterminate the problem, correct?"

He coughed into his gloved hand and fixed her with a stern look." Two out of three is correct, the third, however, is not my job to fulfill,"

Her heart sank at his words; and she knew what he meant." I was supposed to keep him in hiding, until something of a memory came back, than I would take him to Tsunade—shishou to examine him once more. But I guess I didn't do such a good job. He's harmless, he doesn't know how to use his chakra—doesn't even know its there! He cannot deactivate his Sharingan or use it, and by my estimation they should be gone within a few hours of today. But you cannot! Absolutely NOT let Sasuke and/or Naruto know about him being here! You have to help me keep him a secret!"

Kakashi took in her pleading words and accepted them. If this was the Hokage's orders, he would strictly abide by them. He gave her a fake eye crinkle, and didn't care whether or not she knew it wasn't real." I understand, Sakura. I will keep him away Naruto—especially Sasuke—until something further more happens. You have my word."

" Eeeek! Thank you Kakashi—senpai!" With that she wrapped her arms around her old sensei, nearly knocking him off her window perch. Tentatively, he patted her on the back and secretly wished she would release him before all of his oxygen would dissipate. Sensing his discomfort, she pulled away and gave him a cheesy grin.

" Now, eat your veggies and fruit young lady," he ordered playfully, though his words were not to be disobeyed." I have important meetings to attend too, so, if you can, keep him inside or fix him with a suitable jutsu. If anyone is to interrogate you on his presence, tell them to talk to the Hokage for more answers. Do not let him go near any other familiar faces that may hold a grudge or two against his person. Understood?"

" Perfectly," she answered, relieved he was willing to help. No way could she keep him a secret forever by herself, so she was glad to have a higher authority speak for her as well. With a salute, he vanished from her window in a cloud of smoke, leaving her coughing hoarsely until she was able to shut the glass window. Sighing in content, she moved to her dresser drawer and removed a light blue halter top and white shorts, quickly throwing them on and rushing out the door, fruit basket in hand.

She entered the kitchen and placed the basket on the kitchen table, searching around for her mischievous little house guest. But she couldn't find him within the living room or in the bathroom, so she began to panic over the thought of him miraculously jumping threw the window and into the hands of the villager's of Konoha. That thought caused her to spiral into hysteria, made her search the entire house top to bottom until one area remained undisturbed.

Cautiously, she moved over to the hall closet and gripped the handles, opening the squeaky doors until it revealed a grinning Itachi behind a heap of clothing.

" !!"

He was wearing her beige leather jacket with the matching belt and her mother's high heeled mahogany shoes, complete with the top hat to boot. Breathing erratically, she held in the laughter that was bubbling to the surface at how _ridiculous _he looked. She all but failed when she had to release the handles and cover her mouth when the first squeak of betrayal came through her lips. Curiously, Itachi tilted his head to the side and tried to decipher her complex looking expression. Her eyes were squinted closed while her hands were clasped around her mouth, her body hunched over.

He thought she was in pain, so he attempted to step out of the closet—but wound up tripping over his own feet and landed right on her. With a startled gasp, Sakura pushed chakra from her back and somewhat cushioned the blow as Itachi landed full force onto her front, causing her to blush madly. His head was just below her jugular while his hands were held at her sides, trying to brace himself for the fall as well, she thought. He didn't seem to notice just how they were positioned on each other, because his head lifted and look directly at her.

Her breath hitched nervously as she took in the deep set of onyx colored eyes that infiltrated her barriers. They were like Sasuke's eyes, almost indentical, though the only difference was—they had emotion behind them. All her life she had been staring into the emotionless black depths of Sasuke's eyes, and never stopped to ponder if all Uchiha's eyes were of this same cold and bitterness. But, looking into Itachi, she could definitely concur that some Uchiha kept their emotions wide open for everyone else to see and enjoy.

But how exactly was he able to reactivate them when they were in the Hokage's office anyway? As she had theorized, he was holding a certain degree of chakra to keep them activated periodically, and they would eventually fail and he would be back to his normal eyes. But, the question remained; how was he able to reactivate them?

Slowly, she moved her hand and gently pushed on his ribcage, signaling for him to step off of her without hurting him. He got the hint and pushed himself off of her form, and she couldn't help but miss the warmth he provided, and deeply resented the cold that settled in. He kicked off the hanus shoes back into the closet and disposed of the leather jacket and hat, stepping over to her and offering his hand. At first she hadn't known what he was doing, thought that that foreign object was meant to crush her hand in the instant she took it.

Obviously it was a gesture for her to take it and for him to help her up. Dubiously, she reached for it and magically she was on her feet again, a little close to the Uchiha in question.

" Um. . ." Itachi mumbled, awkwardly scratching at his cheek." Sorry about that,"

Sakura absently ran a hand over her stomach." Its okay, I'm fine. How about you? My clothes must have damaged your ego gargantuanly," she joked playfully, but in return he gave her a quizzical look." Um. . .never mind about that," she said gently, walking out of the hallway and into the kitchen." I'm hungry anyway,"

He followed her into the kitchen and sat himself at her table, watching as she grabbed an apple from the basket and took a large bite out of the red flesh. Tilting his head to the side, as if examining it, he pointed to the fruit." Where did you get a fruit basket?" she paused in her second bite and looked at him, placed the apple on the counter next to her elbow.

" I got this from Kakashi—senpai this morning," she said nonchalantly, picking the apple back up and taking another bite. He nodded, but stopped and fixed her with a dubious look.

" Kakashi? Isn't he you're old sensei?"

" Yup,"

" What was he doing here this morning?"

" He does this routinely whenever he thinks his_ star pupils_ aren't getting enough fruits and vegetables every week."

" But. . .I didn't hear him come threw the door. . ."

" He never uses the door, its too overrated for him. He always uses our windows as doors, too lazy to knock and stuff,"

Itachi nodded and grabbed a peach from the basket, taking a bite, the juice running down his arm slowly." I see, he sounds like a good person,"

Sakura laughed while taking a bite, and had to choke down the piece of apple down her throat. Coughing, she slapped her chest and signaled to him that she was fine and was not in need of CPR. She wiped away tears as she answered." Yes, he is a good person. Not the most responsible in the world though, always made us wait for him whenever we had training and stuff,"

Itachi's brow raised curiously," Really? How long did he make you wait?"

" Hours. One morning he told us to be there 7:30 am sharp. He comes and greets us at 11:45 and says that he had gotten held up by an old lady; helping her across the street with her many bags of groceries. And then that same lady had lost her kitten in the woods, and he had to go and find it for her, then he had to come back and pile her wood for the winter."

" But that seems likely to happen,"

" Not when you've heard it over a million times, same story, same old lady, same crossroad, same pile of wood. . ."

The two laughed easily within the kitchen before Sakura realized that she had abandoned her apple. Picking it up, she took another bite.

The room was filled with a couple of comfortable moments of silence, each eating their respective fruits with care. Suddenly, Itachi began rubbing his eyes frivolously and looking at his fruit, startled. He attempted again, rubbing the heels of his palms over his eyes and trying to see the fruit clearly. What was wrong with his vision? He could barely see the little green fruit, it was just a green blur on top of yellow fuzz.

Sakura looked at him questionably. What was he doing? Repeatedly rubbing your eyes and staring at the fruit in bewilderment was not usual behavior. Snapping her fingers in front of his face, she fixed him with a concerned look, but he wasn't looking at her." Itachi?" she asked, snapping her fingers again. He looked at her fingers and poked them abruptly, making her eyebrow raise in curiosity." Itachi, whats wrong?"

" I. . .can't see clearly. . .everything's fuzzy. . ."

Her mouth opened with an audible pop. She hadn't factored on the fact that once his Sharingan were to deactivate he would most likely be semi blind from over use. But what was she to do? She couldn't just heal them, he was the enemy! It would be like handing an enemy soldier a gun and yelling " Shoot me!" It just wasn't right. But, in taking in Tsunade—shishou's words and the fact that she wanted him to be safe, keeping him safe would include making sure he could see properly, lest he fall off the front porch.

Sighing, she jumped off the chair and fled to the phone, dialing her shishou's private line for some helpful advice. The phone rang three times before Shizune—san picked up the phone.

" Hello?" she asked breathlessly—she must have ran toward the phone from the other end of the hall.

" Hi, Shizune—san, is Tsunade—shishou there?"

" Hai, one moment Sakura,"

The phone was silent for about one second before she could hear Shizune yell on the other end of the phone to her Hokage, who most likely was sleeping on the job once again. She was greeted with silence again until Tsunade decided to the phone.

" H-Hello?" Tsunade asked groggily. Sakura could distinctivley hear the thud of her head fall against the wooden desk on the other end.

" Hi, Tsunade—shishou, I have a question concering you know who,"

" No, I don't know who. Who is it?"

Sakura scowled into the phone." You know who I'm talking about. The person who I'm_ trying_ to keep in hiding. . ."

" You're trying to hide a boyfriend in your house?"

" No! You know who I'm talking about!"

" Sakura, I really don't know who or what you are talking about,"

" Tsunade!"—It was rare that Sakura ever used her name without a suffix—" I can't say his name on the phone! It would ruin everything!"

There was a moment of silence before Tsunade decided to speak again, quieter." Whisper it,"

Sakura felt like beating her head off the wall.

" His name is. . ." Sakura whispered, until she felt a presence behind her. Whirling around, she saw Itachi looming over her figure attentively. How long had he been there? Shooing him away and signaling him to be quiet, she gripped the phone harder." Itachi."

She heard what sounded like water being squirted out of one's mouth on the other end of the phone, followed by hoarse coughing and gaging.

" Ack!"

" Tsunade—shishou! Are you alright?"

A couple more minutes went by before her breathing evened and her coughing settled." Sakura, what are you doing with an S-class criminal in your house?"

- - - - - - -

After about an hour of trying to convince her own mentor that it was her idea in the first place to have Itachi stay in her apartment, the conversation went back on track. It was harder than Sakura thought to convince her, but with the help of her faithful assistant, Shizune, they were able to tell her that yes it was her idea to have an S-class criminal in her home and yes she was indeed intoxicated with too much sake.

" Okay, now that we've got everything all cleared up, what was it that you called for?" Tsunade asked professionally, trying to mask the embarrassment.

Sakura smirked on the other end of the phone and proceeded to tell her the rest." I wanted to know if it would be alright if I could fix his eyesight,"

Another silent moment went by before she replied." Absolutely not," she said in a stern tone.

" Tsunade—shishou, you yourself told me not to put him in harms way and to keep him safe. How am I supposed to do that when he can barely see? Next thing you know I'll leave the door to the balcony open and there he goes! Falling off of the balcony onto the hard concrete that awaits below!"

She hadn't counted on being very dramatic, but it was necessary. Tsunade sighed on the other end of the phone, digesting her words and tossing and turning her answer in her head.

Finally, she spoke." I suppose that's a reasonable answer and excuse. . .but I only want you to heal them enough so that he can at least see shapes and figures, no more, is that clear?"

" Crystal,"

" Good, I trust you will not let him fall off any balconies then, am I right?"

" Yes, shishou, he won't be falling off of any balconies, not while I'm here anyway,"

" Oh, and Tsunade—shishou," Sakura said again, a little more tentative." Kakashi—senpai knows about _him_. He said he'd do his best to make sure his whereabouts are strictly confidential and a secret. And I want to know if I can take today off to work on his sight, if you don't mind."

" That is fine, Sakura," Tsunade replied back lightly." I have to go now,"

" Big meeting?"

" Yup," she sighed.

" Goodbye,"

With that Sakura hung up the phone and turned to Itachi, examining his behavior toward what he could and couldn't see. It seemed he was near sighted, but she wasn't quite sure if it was because of his semi blindness or if that was how he had lived his whole life. No matter, Sakura thought with a shrug, I can fix both.

Stepping up to him carefully so she wouldn't startle him, she placed a hand on his shoulder and spun him around in her direction, inspecting his eyes. They were the deep onyx like she'd recently seen, but a bit more hazier, as if someone drew gray crayon on black. Gently, she raised her hand in front of his face and slowly moved it back and forth, but he wasn't following it it, just staring straight at her face.

Pursing her lips in frustration, she snapped chakra to her fingertips and touched them lightly on his temple. He flinched at first, but slowly relaxed to the feeling of having someone's chakra probe inside your anatomy at an inhuman speed. He knew it had to have been chakra that came to her fingertips, for there was no other explanation, and he just knew what it was without knowing what it was.

It felt like a rush of hot water was splashing onto his body when she retreated her chakra and accessed him outwardly. It didn't feel the same when the blond haired girl had done it, it felt more intruding and more forceful. His eyesight was being clogged in the line of chakra vessels, all of it jammed and disturbing his natural sight. She guessed it was because of the extended use of his Sharingan and the overly used tsukiyomi and mangekyou that caused the chakra to build and clog.

But, the question remained, how was she to unclog most of the chakra build up without completely giving him his sight back? She figured that the way he could see with his Sharingan when his eyesight was already this horrible was because of his chakra that had heightened his eyesight just enough for him to make out figures and shapes and to sense out approaching danger. She felt a whole new wave of appreciation for him just then.

If his sight was terrible, even with his chakra infused to make his retina work harder, than it must have been rather difficult to fight and maintain a superior ego and an advanced line of defense when you could barely see. He must have just been using instinct and his senses alone while fighting with one or more enemies, since he could have easily developed a blind spot with his one weakness.

But she was going to give him the advantage of sight for a little while so he wouldn't end up as a human pancake on her concrete walkway in the morning.

She took his hand gingerly and lead him to the couch and sat him down, cracking her knuckles and preparing for a major headache. This type of medical area wasn't her best approach, but she'd give it a shot.

" I want you to lie down and get comfortable," she ordered authoritatively.

Itachi raised an eyebrow." Why?"

" Because we may be here a while," she said, exasperated." And because I'm not particularly familiar with this area of medical experience so it may take a while for me to adapt to the process and chakra stability,"

" Alright," he said, which clearly meant; whatever that means.

She smiled secretly and ordered for him to close his eyes. This may prove to be a bit difficult, because she was counting on examining the Sharingan closer while he had his guard down, but he hadn't any chakra to activate or control it. Who knows, he may accidentally suck her into the tsukiyomi without meaning to. But she remembered what she was thinking about before she began to heal his eyes and eat the fruit, she was thinking of how he had activated his Sharingan by himself.

She tried to approach it casually, but managed to sound small." Um. . .how exactly were you able to reactivate your Sharingan, anyway?"

His brow raised, but his eyes remained obediently closed." Sharingan? What is that?"

She figured it would come up, so she had to work her way around her answer." Its a special ability you possess, you had deactivated it when we were in Tsunade—shishou's office, remember?"

His face scrunched up in confusion.

" The Hokage office," he still looked lost." The room with the big clock in it. . ."

" Oh! Yeah, I remember now!"

Sakura sighed.

" What did you want to know about it?" Itachi inquired.

" I wanted to know how you deactivated your Sharingan, and got it back again later."

" Um. . .I donno,"

" You. . .don't know. . .? How?"

Itachi shrugged, careful not to move his face." Mmm, I remember not being able to see clearly, and I was internally complaining about it. I just thought about seeing better and BAM! I could see clearer!" He exclaimed, empathizing his words with his hands.

Sakura thought about his deduction before she answered." So, you thought about it, and it just happened?"

" Yeah, I guess,"

" Interesting." Carefully, she removed her hands from his temple and thought about how she would go about telling him this. It wasn't as if the chakra flow would magically start to fluctuate, but it was sort of worth a try." Itachi," she said lightly, and he nodded his head in assent." Sit up for me, and you can open your eyes now,"

He did as he was told, a bit childishly, sighing in frustration and sitting himself up, propping his arms on his upraised knees. He slowly began opening his eyes, almost dramatically, but snapped them open quick when they were halfway revealed. Sakura scoffed, hiding her laughter, and assessed him critically. She had to put it in some kind of form where he would be able to follow along without a hitch.

She took a deep breath and looked him in the eye, but quickly looked at something else, lest she start staring again." Okay, I want you to imagine a river flowing threw you're body, and try and stimulate the same with your chakra,"

He nodded his head hesitantly, unsure of her words, and began his imagining. After a few minutes of fruitless searching, he huffed in annoyance." It isn't working," he sulked.

" Keep trying," she encouraged, watching him repeat the same motion with more concentration. She'd guessed that he would be a bit stubborn and impatient since the beginning, but she was willing to remain impassive and attentive when he needed praising. It sounded like she was teaching a kid how to ride a bike.

He shook his head vigorously and opened his eyes, huffing." Its not working," he repeated.

A thought hit her." Do you remember what it felt like when your Sharingan was activated?"

He tossed the question within his mind and shook his head." Yes, somewhat, but not quite,"

" That's fine," she assured." Can you describe what it felt like?"

" It kind of felt like a heavy brick was being placed on my skull, and being bathed in water," he said, unsure as how he would relate the feeling to something similar.

It sounded like an effect a kekki genkai trait would cause, so she opted on that." Can you focus that feeling again?"

" I can try,"

Another few moments passed and eventually he grew tired and impatient. He opened his eyes and stared back at her." I don't feel anything!"

Sakura sighed in frustration, clearly he would need to see, so she set about examining and fixing his eyesight with a clear and focused mind.

She worked on his eyes for four hours before passing out of exhaustion.

* * *

Feedback is most appreciated. If you spot any errors, please make them known so I may proceed to fix them. Review on your way out please.


	5. AN: Notice

A/N:

Sorry I haven't been updating for this story, and for two others. My schedule is hectic and I currently have no idea's as to what to do with them. I am also in the midst of writing my own novel, which, of course, won't be posted on any sites due to copyrighting theives. So, sorry for the inconvenience.


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